From the Guardian · · 1m 20s
Australia will be a supplicant state without its own AI
Andrew Hastie says Australia needs a frontier AI model at home, and thinks Aukus is the way to get one.
In brief
Andrew Hastie says Australia needs a frontier AI model at home, and thinks Aukus is the way to get one. Hastie's pitch is to trade some control for local AI capacity, using the US alliance as the vehicle. Originally reported by the Guardian.
Supplicant or sovereign
Shadow industry minister Andrew Hastie told the Sydney Dialogue that Australia becomes a supplicant state if it fails to secure frontier AI through a deal with the US.
“Without a sovereign AI frontier model here in Australia, we are going to be a supplicant state, not a sovereign state”
The June shutdown
He pointed to the US government cutting off access to Claude Mythos in June as proof that Australia can be held hostage without local AI capacity.
Bigger than memes
Hastie argued the stakes are misunderstood at home. This is about who sets the global order, not consumer novelty.
“People think it's making memes on ChatGPT. We're talking about the global order being changed and Australia falling behind.”
Bring the hyperscalers
Australia is far behind in the race, so his fix is to get one or more hyperscalers building sovereign capacity onshore, framed through Aukus.
“We need to work on a way to get a hyperscaler down under, or multiple hyperscalers to invest in sovereign capability”
Ford and GM, again
He compared it to the American carmakers that set up Australian plants a century ago, a foreign firm operating under local rules.
A balancing act
Hastie conceded Australia would not have complete control, but said policy settings could shape any company that sets up here. He cited Kevin Rudd's line that industry policy is now the norm.
“Ditch the orthodoxies of the last 40 years and wake up to the reality that is now shaping our world.”
The headline
Hastie's pitch is to trade some control for local AI capacity, using the US alliance as the vehicle.
